Months after South American Woods Incorporated (SAW Inc) succeeded in securing an ex parte order from the High Court enabling it to change the terms of the use of land at Leonora, NICIL – the intermediary in the sale – and the lands and survey commission say they were unaware of the legal proceedings.
The GuySuCo land was sold to SAW with restrictive covenants requiring a wood processing facility but the company has now embarked on a housing estate. It explained this by saying that it had applied to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in the area and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for permission for the wood processing facility but had been denied. It then moved to the High Court and the relevant order was granted by Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang on October 2, 2013. This order was reported in the June 8, 2014 edition of Stabroek News.
Questions have been raised as to whether recourse to the court was the appropriate procedure for this transaction which has controversial businessman Ed Ahmad as one of its principals.
Speaking to Stabroek News on Wednesday, Head of National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Winston Brassington, said that the entity has not been notified of the ruling. He said that an ex-parte summons, of course, meant that not all the interested parties would have been notified of the intention to amend the transport.
Since NICIL acted as the agent for the sale of the 17 acres of land on behalf of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), any matters